1987-1991

1987

In July, Konami Corporation develops Metal Gear, one of the earliest action stealth video games. It is a competitive fighting game.
In August, Street Fighter, the first in a series of games, is released by Capcom.
Nintendo distributes The Legend of Zelda in America and Europe.
Driller¹, a puzzle video game and one of the earliest games to offer three-dimensional environments, is released by Incentive Software². This game would become popular for Freescape³, its early 3D game engine.
Infocom is acquired from Activision.
In October, the PC-Engine console (best known as TurboGrafx-16) is released in Japan by NEC Corporation⁴ (Nippon Electric Company). It is the first console of the 16-bit era (fourth generation of consoles).
December 17, the first Mega Man game is released by Capcom. This game would belong to a long-lasting series for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
In December, Square Company⁵ releases Final Fantasy⁶, a fantasy role-playing video game, for the Famicon in Japan.
December 20, Sega develops and publishes Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System in Japan. It is the first title of a series that would become the most successful of role playing video games.

Sega releases Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System in North America and Europe.
In October, Mega Drive, a console of fourth generation, is released in Japan by Sega.
Electronic Arts⁷releases John Madden Football⁸ and starts its line of American football games.

In June, Populous⁹, the first commercially successful god games, is internationally released by Bullfrog Productions¹⁰.
Dragon Quest is published in North America with the name Dragon Warrior.
Game Boy, a handheld console with cartridges, is released by Nintendo.
PC-Engine of NEC is released in North America as the TurboGrafx-16.
Sega releases Mega Drive in North America as the Sega Genesis.

In February, Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) console in North America. It would become one of the greatest video games of all time.
November, in Japan the Super Famicom 16-bit console is released by Nintendo.
Mega Drive is released in Europe by Sega.

Civilization¹¹ is developed by MicroProse ¹². This game would become the most successful video game of Sid Meier¹³.
Neverwinter Nights¹⁴, the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to display graphics is published.
In February, Capcom releases Street Fighter II¹⁵ (the second competitive fighting game of the series) for arcade machines.
In June, Sonic the Hedgehog is released by Sega for a few consoles. This game would have a great success.
Sensible Software releases in North America and Europe Mega Lo Mania, a real-time strategy computer game.
In August, Nintendo releases the Super Famicon as Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.